Plan your stay
Work out the cost, then the practicalities.
01 What it costs
Price your stay.
Rates are per person per night, sharing a chalet. Put in your nights and numbers, pick a plan, and the estimate builds as you go. Nothing here is a booking, and no payment is taken.
What that buys
Seventeen chalets in one bend of the valley.
The whole property fits in a single frame from above: the main lodge on the rock, the pool cut into it, and the chalets spread along the treeline behind. Forty guests at capacity, and most weeks fewer.
Everything in the estimate happens inside that frame, apart from the outings. You are not being moved between venues.
02 Before you travel
The things worth sorting first.
None of it is complicated. All of it is easier done at home than at the gate.
This starts at the end of the verandah.
No gate to drive through in the morning, no hour on the road before anything begins. The park is the view.
03 The shape of a day
How the days tend to run.
Two outings a day, and a long middle. Nothing here is compulsory.
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05:45
Coffee on the verandah
Early, because the first light is the best of it and the rhino move at dawn.
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06:15
The morning outing
Rhino tracking on foot, a rock art walk, or a drive into the Whovi. Back by mid-morning.
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10:00
Breakfast, properly
Cooked, unhurried, usually outside.
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11:00
The long middle
The pool, the shade, a book on the verandah. This is the part people underestimate.
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13:00
Lunch
On the deck, looking out at the hills.
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16:00
The afternoon outing
A shorter walk, a drive, or up to a viewpoint for the light.
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18:00
Sundowners on the rock
Drinks on the granite while the valley goes gold and then blue.
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19:30
Dinner, one table
By the second night the bar knows your order and you know the names of the dogs.
Timings shift with the season. In midsummer everything moves an hour earlier.
And then the evening
The lamps go on and nobody goes anywhere.
Sundowners on the rock, then the long table under thatch. There is nowhere to move on to and that is the point of it.
If you are staying three nights or more, the third evening is usually the one people talk about afterwards.
In every rate
Getting here
Inside the park, not an hour from it.
- 55 minBy road from Bulawayo
- BUQJoshua Mqabuko Nkomo International
- InsideMatobo National Park
- On requestTransfers from the airport or town
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04 Before you book
What guests ask us at this stage.
Is the calculator a quote?
No. It prices the accommodation, the child rate and the park entry exactly, because those are fixed. Rhino tracking, World's View and transfers are quoted per party, and SADC and resident rates change the park fee. Send your configuration through and the written quote comes back from the lodge with your numbers on it.
How do the child rates work?
Children aged 4 to 11 pay 50% of the adult rate on any plan. Under 4s stay free when sharing with parents. Tell us the ages when you enquire and we will confirm them on the quote.
What is the single supplement?
15% on the nightly rate in high season, for one adult alone in a chalet. The calculator adds it when you tick the box.
Which plan do most people take?
Dinner, Bed and Breakfast for a short stay, because lunch is easy to miss when you are out. Three nights or more and the Matobo Experience usually works out better, since it carries two guided outings a day and the park fees.
When should we come?
It works all year. The dry months from May to October suit rhino tracking, when the bush thins and the animals gather at water. From November to April the hills go green, the light is dramatic and there are far fewer people.
Do we need to book activities in advance?
Rhino tracking is worth booking with your stay because the rangers and the vehicles are finite. Everything else can be decided the evening before, over dinner.
How do we pay, and what if plans change?
The quote sets out the terms in writing before anything is paid. If your dates move, tell us early and we will work with you. Write to bookings@matoposhillslodge.com and a person answers.
Send it through
Tell us the dates and we will price it properly.
The reply comes from the lodge, usually within twenty-four hours. No payment is taken here.